Mid Atlantic Brewing News October/November 2017 : Page 1

Virginia’s Newest Farm Breweries Yield Bumper Crop of Brews By Steve Marler A Collision of Universes : Sci Fi , Superheroes and Suds By Greg Kitsock T ILLUSTRATION BY HANS GRANHEIM bout b an hour’s drive d from the glass-and-metal g towers t of our nation’s capital, n you y can breathe country air and toast the harvest, courtesy of two new farm breweries in northern Virginia. On Route 29, just before Warr-enton, is a highway sign directing you to Wort Hog Brewing. Take that exit but head the opposite way to Powers Farm and Brewery at 9269 Redemption Way in Midland, Va. Penn State grads Melody and Kevin Powell, toiling for the Wash-ington bureaucracy, homebrewed in their apartment and cultivated a plot in a community garden across the street. They combined the two hob-bies by mixing botanicals into their homebrew. ´7KDW&#03;ZDV&#03;NLQG&#03;RI&#03;WKH&#03;ÀUVW&#03;IDUP&#03; that we had,” chuckled Kevin. he San Diego Comic-omic-Con International l is possibly the world’s ld’s ODUJHVW&#03;JDWKHULQJ&#03;RI&#03;VFLHQFH&#03;ÀF H&#03;ÀF -uffs, tion, fantasy and comics buffs, drawing upwards of 200,000 00 fans. It’s also become an occasion for releasing new w beers. Like Symbiosis , the latest Star Trek commemo-rative brew from Shmaltz Brewing in Clifton Park, NY. Shmaltz’s western sales manager Sean Friedman debuted the brew at San Diego’s Gaslamp Tavern. Brewery founder Jeremy Cowan says he’s licensed to re-lease three Trek brews a year; the next, a “tropical winter beer” called Captain’s Holiday , is due See Collision p.4 Top to Bottom-Kate Hoke, co-owner of Heroic Aleworks in Woodbridge, Va., poses in one of her homemade costumes as the Winter Soldier. PHOTO COURTESY OF HEROIC ALEWORKS Symbiosis from Shmaltz Brewing is named after an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. PHOTO COURTESY OF SHMALTZ Solasta is the name of Heroic Aleworks’ easy-drinking kolsch, a German pale ale, and also a blonde super-heroine who draws her power from the sun and has her own comic book. PHOTO COURTESY OF HEROIC ALEWORKS See Bumper Crop p.2 State by State News INSIDE Book Review.................................. 6 Homebrew News ........................... 8 Maps ...................................... 10-13 Event Calendar ............................21 W. Virginia ........7 Virginia .............9 C. Penn ............14 Philadelphia ...15 E. Penn ............16 D.C. ..................17 Maryland ........18 Baltimore ........19 New Jersey .....20 Delaware ........22 Hop Con is an annual festival, held by Stone Brewing, that prefaces the San Diego Comic-Con International. PHOTO COURTESY OF STONE BREWING